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A sleepy person often faces problems of poor health, lack of strength. It loses its efficiency, and the functionality of all body systems deteriorates. Night rest - physiologically difficult process. It consists of 5 constantly changing slow and fast phases. At this time, a person has time not only to relax, but also to rethink the information accumulated during the day. It is important for everyone to know what slow sleep is, since it is it that allows you to fully restore strength.

The first experiments on the study of night rest, as a physiological process, consisted in its interruption at a certain time. After that, the sensations of the subject were recorded. They made it possible to establish that night rest consists of phases that change sequentially. The first scientist to study sleep was A.A. Manasein. She determined that sleep at night is more important for a person than food.

In the 19th century, the scientist Kelschütter established that sleep is stronger and deeper in the first hours after falling asleep. Closer to the morning it becomes superficial. The studies became most informative after they began to use an electroencephalogram, which fixes the electrical waves emitted by the brain.

Distinctive features of slow sleep

The slow phase occupies about 85% of the total sleep volume. It differs from the fast rest stage in such features:

1. Consists of 4 stages.
2. At the moment of falling asleep, the movements of the eyeballs are smooth. At the end of the stage, they freeze.
3. Dreams at this stage do not have a vivid plot. Some people may not have them at all.
4. Violation of the phase of slow sleep is accompanied by irritability of a person, he gets up tired, cannot sleep. His performance is declining, his health is deteriorating. This happens due to the fact that not all neurochemical processes are completed.
5. Breathing and pulse become slow, there is a decrease in blood pressure, body temperature.
6. At this stage, complete relaxation of the muscles occurs.

Advice! As for REM sleep, a person wakes up at this stage without consequences for the body. There is an activation of all vital processes: increased heart rate, breathing. This rest phase is shorter.

The value of deep sleep

In order for a person to get enough sleep, he must rest properly. During slow sleep, the synthesis of growth hormone occurs, intensive cell repair. The body is able to relax well, renew the energy supply. At this stage, the rhythms of all brain structures are regulated.

An adult has the ability to restore his immune system. If you sleep correctly, a sufficient amount of time, then the metabolism and removal of toxins from the tissues of the body improves. In the phase of slow sleep, there is an active processing of the information received during the day, the consolidation of the studied material.

Elements that make up the orthodox phase

The NREM stage consists of several elements, which can be read about in the table:

Element name	Characteristic
nap	In this time period, there is a revision and conjecture of ideas that appeared during the day. The brain tries to find a solution to the accumulated problems. There is a decrease in heart rate, respiration
sleep spindles	Here consciousness turns off, but these periods alternate with an increase in visual and auditory susceptibility. At this time, a person can be easily awakened. At this stage, the body temperature drops.
delta sleep	This phase is considered the transition to the deepest sleep.
deep delta sleep	During this period, a person may have dreams, his energy decreases. If you need to wake up, this process is a heavy stress for the body. Deep sleep occurs an hour and a half after the start of the first phase

These stages have a certain percentage:

1. Napping: 12.1%.
2. Sleep spindles: 38.1%.
3. Delta sleep: 14.2%.
4. Deep delta sleep: 23.5%.

REM sleep takes up 23.5% of the total time.

Duration of the slow stage per night

Many users want to know how long NREM sleep should last per night to avoid sleep deprivation. This cycle begins immediately after the transition of the sleeper into unconsciousness. Then comes the deep phase. There is a disconnection of sensory perception, dulling of cognitive processes. Normally, the nap period can last 15 minutes. The last three stages take about an hour. The total duration of the slow phase (excluding alternation with REM sleep) is 5 hours.

The duration of this period is affected by age. In a child, this phase lasts 20 minutes, in adults up to 30 years old - 2 hours. Further, it decreases: from 55-60 years old - 85 minutes, after 60 years - 80. Healthy rest should take at least 6-8 hours a day.

It should be noted that the rate of sleep per night for each person is different. Someone can sleep quickly and 4-5 hours will be enough for him, and 8-9 hours will not be enough for someone. Here you need to pay attention to your feelings.

It is important to know! The determination of the exact time required for a night's rest is made by trial. This will take 1-2 weeks. But we must not allow a permanent violation of the slow phase.

Human condition during deep sleep

At night, the deep stage will be followed by total relaxation. muscular system, brain. The conductivity of nerve impulses changes, sensory perception is dulled. There is a slowdown in metabolic processes, the work of the stomach and intestines.

During this period, the brain requires less oxygen, blood flow becomes less active. A proper night's rest will be characterized by a slowdown in the aging process of tissues.

Reducing the slow phase: what is the danger

Depending on how long the slow phase of sleep lasts, a person will have good health and performance. Its reduction is fraught with serious health problems: the clarity of consciousness is lost, constant drowsiness appears. Regular disruption of the normal duration and structure of sleep leads to chronic insomnia. A person has the following problems:

• increased fatigue;
• immunity falls;
• irritability increases, mood changes frequently;
• metabolic processes are disturbed, mental functions and attention are dulled;
• the work of the endocrine system becomes problematic;
• increases the risk of developing diseases of the heart and blood vessels;
• performance, endurance decreases;
• insulin synthesis fails.

Attention! A decrease in the amount of sleep leads to the development of atherosclerosis, diabetes mellitus, and oncological pathologies. A comparative analysis showed that the slow and fast phases of night rest are equally important, although their characteristics will differ.

Regardless of whether a man or woman has a disturbed sleep structure, how much a person sleeps, if he does it wrong, then rest will not give desired result. To improve its quality, you need to follow these recommendations of experts:

1. Stick to a bedtime schedule. It is better to go to bed no later than 23 pm. At the same time, it is advisable to wake up no earlier than 7 in the morning (this indicator is individual).
2. Before going to bed, you need to ventilate the room. The temperature in the bedroom should not exceed 22 degrees. To improve the quality of sleep, you can take an evening walk in the fresh air.
3. A few hours before rest, you should not eat food that requires a long digestion time. In extreme cases, you can drink a glass of warm milk.
4. Night rest should include the period after midnight until 5 am.
5. It is strictly forbidden to drink coffee, strong tea or alcohol in the evening.
6. If it is difficult for a person to fall asleep, then he can drink tea with soothing herbs (motherwort, valerian), take a relaxing bath with sea ​​salt. Aromatherapy often helps to fall asleep.
7. Important to choose comfortable posture for relax.
8. Preference should be given to orthopedic devices for rest. The mattress should be flat and firm. Do not use a high headboard.
9. The room should be quiet and dark at night.
10. After waking up, it is better to take a contrast shower or do light gymnastics.

A proper night's rest in compliance with its structure is the key to good health and well-being. A person wakes up rested, efficient, in a great mood. Systematic lack of sleep will lead to serious violations of the functionality of the body, which are not easy to get rid of.

(REM) sleep has become so engrossed in the study of its paradoxes that no attention has been paid to the slow phase of sleep. Slow-wave sleep was perceived as a natural backdrop for paradoxical sleep.

However, this phase itself declared itself and made us think about the role of slow sleep in the vital processes of the human body.

During another experiment on the deprivation of early morning REM sleep for several nights, the experimenters were surprised that the deepest stage of non-REM sleep, delta sleep, wants to take revenge on the recovery night.

Means, slow-wave sleep and fast sleep are inseparable and are extensions of each other:

• the synthesis of norepinephrine, a mediator of paradoxical sleep, occurs in non-REM sleep;
• when the raphe nuclei of the brainstem containing serotonin are destroyed, both stages of sleep are disturbed.

Having many differences, they belong to a single balanced system, they are connected by chemical, physiological, functional and mental processes..

Drowsiness with its rhythm resembles REM sleep. and is often filled with half-thoughts, and occasionally with real dreams.

two or three nights spent to the accompaniment of sound awakenings reduce physical and mental performance, give a feeling of fatigue, and slow down the speed of reactions.

This result speaks to the dominant role of delta sleep for physical and emotional recovery.

At first glance, the activity of the galvanic skin processes and the nightmares that occur during this stage do not show the accumulation, but the consumption of energy.

However, recovery processes are hidden behind the external picture of energy consumption. They explain the revival of vegetatives, it goes in a fast dream.

A deep mental work takes place, in which (as in wakefulness) scouts of the mind take part - emotions that give the first assessment that is not yet conscious of any impression, any thought or memory that comes to mind.

Where there are emotions, GSR is always present.

The effect of additional physical activity on non-REM sleep

Young men far from sports, engaged in mental work, exercised on a bicycle ergometer for 120 minutes. Daily loads had almost no effect on the structure of night sleep. Evening loads had a noticeable effect.

During sleep in an adult, 2 main phases alternate: fast and slow sleep. At the very beginning, after falling asleep, the duration of the slow phase is long, and before waking up, the duration of slow wave sleep is shortened, and the duration of REM sleep is lengthened.

A healthy adult starts sleep from the 1st tbsp. slow sleep, lasting 5-10 minutes. Next 2nd st. lasts 20 min. Then follow 3-4 tbsp., lasting another 30-45 minutes. Further, the sleeper again plunges into the 2nd tbsp. NREM sleep, followed by the 1st episode of REM sleep, which takes only 5 minutes. This is one cycle.

The initial cycle lasts about an hour and a half. During the repetition of cycles, the proportion of non-REM sleep is shortened, and the proportion of fast sleep is lengthened. During the last cycle, the duration of the fast cycle can be up to one hour. A healthy adult experiences 5 cycles during a night's sleep.

slow sleep

Non-REM sleep is also divided into certain stages:

1. The first is drowsiness with dreamlike visions. At this time, solutions to daily problems can clearly appear in the brain.
2. The second is the so-called sleep spindles. At this time, consciousness turns off, but a person can be easily awakened, thanks to the increased thresholds of perception.
3. The third is a deeper sleep in which sleep spindles are still preserved.
4. The fourth is the deepest sleep, sometimes called delta sleep. The duration of the deep sleep phase decreases from cycle to cycle.

Actually, under the concept of delta sleep, the penultimate and last stages are sometimes combined. It is almost impossible to wake a sleeping person during this period. This is exactly the stage in which there is, or nightmares, but upon awakening, a person does not retain memories of what happened. Normally, all 4 slow-wave stages of sleep of the 1st cycle occupy up to 80% of all sleep.

From the point of view, in this phase the body heals physically - cells and tissues are restored, self-healing occurs internal organs. During this period, the body restores its energy consumption. During REM sleep, he restores his mental and intellectual resources.

What happens during delta sleep

During delta sleep, the rhythms of the heartbeat and respiratory rate decrease, and all muscles relax. As this phase deepens, the number of movements of the sleeper becomes minimal, it becomes difficult to wake him up. If, nevertheless, the sleeping person is awakened at this time, he will not remember dreams.

During slow-wave sleep, according to the researchers of the phenomenon, restorative metabolic processes occur in the tissues, aimed at compensating for the catabolism that occurs during wakefulness.

Certain facts support this hypothesis. The delta sleep stage is lengthened in some cases:

• after active physical work;
• during a period of rapid weight loss;
• with thyrotoxicosis.

If the subjects are deprived of this phase artificially (by exposure to sound, for example), then they begin to complain of physical weakness and unpleasant muscle sensations.

Also, delta sleep plays an important role in the processes of memorization. Experiments were conducted during which the subjects were asked to memorize meaningless combinations of letters before going to bed. After three hours of sleep, they were awakened and asked to repeat what they had learned before going to bed. It turned out that the more delta waves were recorded during this period of sleep, the more accurate the memories were. The results of these experiments determined that the memory impairment that occurs with prolonged sleep disturbances and insomnia is associated precisely with deep sleep problems.

The test subjects react to the deprivation of deep sleep in the same way as to the complete deprivation of sleep: 2-3 nights with the use of arousal reduce efficiency, slow down the speed of reactions, give a feeling of fatigue.

How long should deep sleep last?

Each person has their own individual norm for how much sleep they need. There are short sleepers, medium sleepers, and long sleepers. Napoleon was a short sleeper - he slept only 4 hours. And Einstein was a long sleeper - his sleep rate was at least 10 hours. And both were very effective figures. However, if an ordinary person is forced to reduce his norm, then, probably, in the morning he will be negative, immediately tired and angry.

Scientists at the University of Surrey conducted an experiment in which 110 healthy adults who had never experienced sleep problems took part. On the first night, the participants spent 8 hours in bed and showed that: subjects aged 20-30 years old slept 7.23 hours, 40-55 years old 6.83 hours, 66-83 years old - 6.51 hours. The same trend was observed in the time of deep sleep: 118.4 minutes in the first group, 85.3 in the middle group, 84.2 minutes in the most age group.

The first thing that begins to suffer with a lack of delta sleep is the endocrine system. With a lack of deep sleep, a person does not produce growth hormone. As a result, the belly begins to grow. These people suffer from sleep apnea: at night they experience short-term respiratory arrests, during which they can simply not breathe for up to 1.5 minutes. Then the body, out of a sense of self-preservation, gives the command to wake up and the person snores. This is a very dangerous condition during which heart attacks and strokes occur much more often. In the treatment of the syndrome, people lose weight dramatically, because they are improving the production of the hormone. Sleep apnea causes irresistible daytime sleepiness, which is extremely dangerous if a person is driving at this time.

The rate of deep sleep in adults is from 30 to 70% of the total sleep time. To increase its percentage, you must:

• create a more efficient wake/sleep schedule (you need to go to bed and get up at the same time);
• give the body physical activity a couple of hours before bedtime (more details);
• do not smoke, do not overeat, do not drink coffee, alcohol, energy drinks before bed (we made);
• sleep in a comfortable room (in a ventilated room, in the absence of extraneous sounds and light).

With the onset of old age, the duration of non-REM sleep decreases. In 80-year-olds, the long phase of sleep becomes 62% less than in twenty-year-olds. There are many factors that affect aging, but if the phase of non-REM sleep is also reduced, then the aging process goes even faster.

How to measure your sleep

It is possible to accurately separate all 5 stages of sleep only by the encephalogram of the brain, rapid eye movements and other modern studies. If you just need to equalize your sleep during the week, you can use special fitness bracelets. Fitness bracelets cannot read what phase of sleep you are in. this moment there is an organism, but they fix the movements of a person in a dream. A fitness bracelet will help divide sleep into 2 phases - a person tosses and turns (phase 1-3), sleeps motionless (phase 3-5). Information on the bracelet is displayed in the form of a graph-fence. True, the main purpose of this function of fitness bracelets is smart alarm clock, which should gently wake a person in the REM phase of sleep.

Discovery of the delta sleep peptide

In the 70s, during experiments on rabbits, a group of Swiss scientists discovered the delta sleep peptide, which, when exposed to the brain, is able to induce this phase. Scientists isolated it from the blood of rabbits in the deep phase of sleep. Beneficial features substances are gradually being discovered to people over the course of more than 40 years of research, it:

• activates mechanisms of protection against stress;
• slows down the aging process, which is facilitated by its antioxidant properties. The life expectancy of mice during experiments with its use increased by 24%;
• has anti-cancer properties: slows down the growth of tumors and inhibits metastasis;
• inhibits the development of alcohol dependence;
• exhibits anticonvulsant properties, reduces the duration of epileptic seizures;
• is an excellent pain reliever.

How to increase delta sleep

A number of experiments have been carried out to study the effect physical activity for delta sleep. The men worked out on an exercise bike for two hours. Daytime activities did not affect the duration of sleep in any way. Evening classes had a notable impact:

• increased by 36 minutes the total length of sleep;
• the period of falling asleep and drowsing was shortened;
• deepened delta sleep;
• the cycle lengthened from one and a half to two hours.

With the introduction of additional intellectual loads (tests in the evening, solving logical problems), changes in the deep sleep phase were also recorded:

• the proportion of the deepest stage increased due to sleep spindles;
• lengthened 2nd cycle;
• an increase in the work of activating systems was recorded.

Any stressful situations cause a shortening of the delta sleep phase. Delta sleep is a mandatory participant in all changes in human living conditions. An increase in its duration compensates for any load.

List of used literature:

• Feinberg I. Changes in sleep cycle patterns with age // J Psychiatr Res. - 1974 - Vol. 10, no. 3-4. - P. 283-306.
• Legramante J., Galante A. Sleep and hypertension: a challenge for the autonomic regulation of the cardiovascular system. // Circulation: journal. - 2005 - Vol. 112, no. 6 (9 August). - P. 786-8. - PMID 16087808.
• Morrissey M., Duntley S., Anch A., Nonneman R. Active sleep and its role in the prevention of apoptosis in the developing brain. // Med Hypotheses: journal. - 2004 - Vol. 62, no. 6. - P. 876-9.

Sleep is physiological state, at which human body rests and, accordingly, there is minimal brain activity. It is worth noting that this condition occupies almost a third of the life of each individual, although it has not yet been fully studied. If a person does not get enough sleep, during the period of wakefulness he will feel fatigue, loss of strength, concentration of attention and coordination of movements may be disturbed. Healthy sleep is the key to good physical and psychological well-being, while its violation can lead to a number of disorders, as well as be a symptom of many diseases.

scientific evidence

Scientists distinguish two phases of sleep: chalky and REM. They replace each other throughout the cycle and are also divided into certain stages. If we talk about how long one cycle lasts, then its duration can be from one to two hours, while almost most of this time is occupied by the slow phase. Among other distinguishing features, each period is characterized by a fast or slow rotation of the eyeballs, which is why they are called non-REM and REM.

It should be noted that the restoration of the body occurs only under certain conditions, when the balance of periods of sleep is observed, each of which is endowed with special functions. It often happens that a person, waking up, feels completely overwhelmed. A similar phenomenon usually occurs when awakening falls on slow sleep. During the night, an adult has about four to five cycles, but, for example, in infants, the cycles are distributed differently: the paradoxical phase or REM sleep takes about half of the entire period, this time gradually decreases, and by adolescence, the child’s sleep phases are set as in adult. Scientists explain that physiology is arranged in such a way that REM sleep contributes to the active development of the brain, programming instincts inherent in genetics and nature, as well as the formation of new ones.

There is a technique that allows you to determine the stages of human sleep since infancy. We are talking about an EEG - an encephalogram, the picture of which is quite different at various stages.

slow phase

The phase of non-REM sleep can be divided into several stages:

It is necessary to emphasize the importance of the last stage, because it is during it that the human body is restored at the cellular level. This process is disturbed if there are frequent awakenings, and in the morning a person may experience fatigue and a lack of vital energy.

fast phase

In one cycle, the REM phase replaces the slow stage and takes about a quarter of the cycle. REM sleep is necessary so that the brain can process and systematize the information received during the day, and during this period there is an intensive restoration of the nervous system.

The physiological state of a person during the fast phase differs in many respects from that during the slow phase. In a sleeper, one can observe uneven breathing, an arrhythmic heartbeat, decreased muscle tone, rapid movement of the eyeballs. REM sleep is also characterized by vivid, memorable dreams, as this is the most active stage. The exit from it is also very easy: after waking up, a person feels rested and full of vitality.

As the phases change, the degree of their influence on the human body also changes. Closer to morning, the proportion of the slow phase decreases and the proportion of the fast phase increases. If you forcibly limit the total duration of sleep, the time of the fast phases will decrease, while the duration of the slow phase will practically not change.

How to calculate the optimal time to wake up

All phases of human sleep are necessary for the body to be able to fully restore its potential. Optimally, sleep should consist of at least four complete cycles of slow and fast phases, while it is desirable that these four cycles be completed before four in the morning, since slow-wave sleep practically does not appear later. However, this does not mean that you should wake up at four in the morning. After this time, sleep helps to restore the nervous system, which is important for the normal functioning of the body.

To provide yourself with a truly complete rest, you need to maintain a certain balance: go to bed earlier so that during the phases of slow sleep the body replenishes its reserves, and the nervous system is restored during REM sleep, the duration of which becomes longer closer to the morning.

Many people are very concerned about the question of whether there is any technique that allows you to calculate when it is better to wake up in order to feel alert and full of energy. How easy the awakening will be depends on what phase the person is in at that moment. If you wake up during the slow deep stage, feeling tired will be inevitable, therefore, it is much better to interrupt the sleep state in its fast phase. Tracking the phases of sleep by the clock will allow you to calculate the optimal time when it is better to wake up. To do this, you can use a special calculator or chart.

If we take into account that one cycle lasts two hours, twenty minutes of which falls on the fast phase, then we can independently calculate best time waking up by the hour. The body needs six to eight hours to fully recover. You can count several intervals of two hours and set an alarm. Such an experiment will allow you to test for yourself how easy it will be to wake up in the fast phase. However, such a calculation requires accuracy, because there is no guarantee that you will be able to fall asleep immediately. Also, with severe physical fatigue, the duration of the slow phase also increases.